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The Custard House Blake Lane

David
“Commercial interests “ – sounds like you think I’m some sort of Lobbyist !!. It looks like the custard house was demolished between 1888 and 1890. The 1890 date on the map is the publication date, and the survey was probably done 1885-87.
In 1888 it is in hobmoor road was occupied by ;
Badger Rev. Williams Collins M.A.[chaplain of St. John's Church,Deritend]
In 1883-4 the above person is listed as living at the Laurels, Yardley road (now Yardley Green road), but it is the first house , and so I am pretty sure that it is the same house, but listed on a different road (being about on the corner of the two roads). In 1880 the area is not included in the Birmingham directory (at least the streets are not listed separately.) Rerv Badger is still in charge at St Johns, but he is not listed in the private addresses.
So it looks as if it was only called the custard house for a very short time, for some reason. It is possible that Alfred Bird supported the church , as it was close to his factory.
Incidently in 1880 Alfred Bird is listed as living at Park villa , Alcester road. He disappears after 1884

mike
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Yes Mike, re-reading it I should have expressed myself more 'eloquently'. I have nearly always noted your name alongside reams of information about shops, businesses and companies. I was asking information about a private address; I used commercial as a synonym of trading, i.e. shops, businesses and companies. I hope I didn't embarrass or annoy you.
Thanks very much for the information. Having such a broad and deep interest in Brummagem's local history, could you offer a personal explanation of this weird name for a pub? David
 
David
Of course you didn't annoy me, it was just my little joke.
I don’t really have any ideas that haven’t already been put forward. I think this came up about two years ago and no definite conclusions were reached then either. The pub appears in the Birmingham directories back to 1862, although it wasn’t actually in Birmingham for all that time. Previous to that the Birmingham directories don’t seem to cover the area (or there wasn’t a Blakes lane or a custard house before).
Mike
 
Hi David,
We were there at the same time!, I lived off the Hobmoor Road (Fosbrooke Road) between 1953-1965.
I always used the Custard House and played snooker there 3 times a week, me and my mate Jimmy Cooke used to go out with the gaffers daughters, but sadly he had a heart attack one
Sunday morning and died, we never saw them again.
Small world eh.
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Good morning, John,
How are things in Brighton?
My first recollection of the Custard House was the enormous garden behind the pub. I was only 9 or 10 when I used to go and play on and around an old stage which had been erected between several apple trees which we occasionally took advantage of in late September (perhaps the remnants of the orchard mentioned by fatfingers in Post #6?). I was far too young to go into the pub and can't say I remember the publican. I recall having been chased out of the grounds on a couple of occasions but I've no idea by whom.
Despite having lived a stone's throw from the pub until I was twenty-one - very much off and on for the last two years - I hardly ever drank there. I far preferred to travel into town to the legendary Greyhound or down to Yardley to the Ring o'Bells.
With your connection with sign-writing, did you ever meet a Mr Wilson (Ron perhaps) who used to sign-write for a company in the Bromsgrove Street part of town and lived in Harvey Road, Yardley behind Yardley Junior and Infants School near the Yew Tree? His elder daughter was the love-of-my-life for almost three years!
Best regards, David
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

David, it gets stranger, I worked with Ron for 5 years at SIGN SPECIALISTS in Bromsgrove St.
I have just found an old map 1821 showing the Custard House, I will post it in the next post after this.
Regards John,(nice and sunny in Brighton at the moment(.
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Here you are David.
I will be in Birmingham on February 12-15 and will take a couple of photos for you.
 
terryb18 said:
The address of Alfred Bird in 1891 was
BIRD, Alfred F Address: The Firs, Alcester Road, Kings Norton, Moseley
I suppose its possible that he could have lived at a Custard House, but somehow I dont think so.
Terry

His household in 1891
BIRD, Alfred FHeadMarriedM411850Manufacturer Of Food Product
BIRD, Eleanor FWifeMarriedF381853
BIRD, Robert BSonM141877Scholar
BIRD, GeoffreySonM131878Scholar
BIRD, OliverSonM111880Scholar
BIRD, Dorothy FDaughterF91882Scholar
BIRD, Christopher ASonM61885Scholar
BIRD, LelsieSonM41887
BIRD, Eleanor MDaughterF31888
JENKINS, MaryHousemaidSingleF291862Domestic Servant
GREGORY, MaryCookSingleF301861Domestic Servant
COOPER, Elizabeth AHousemaidSingleF201871Domestic Servant
Click to expand...

The inventor of Custard Powder was Alfred Bird (1811-1878). The family above was his son's.
See https://www.rpsgb.org.uk/informationresources/museum/exhibitions/themotherofinvention/bird.html

In the 1861 census, at 69 Worcester Street, Birmingham:
Alfred Bird, 49, Chemist, born Nymsfield, Gloucs.
Elizabeth Lavinia Bird, 50, Wife, born Nottingham
Charles Bird, 17, son, born Birmingham
Jessie Martha Bird, 15, daughter
Alfred Frederick Bird, 11, son
There was also a Chemist's assistant, an apprentice and two servants.
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Well, Lads,
This thread has certainly sprung to life !!! I've been asking myself since 3rd August 1957 the significance of this extraordinary pub name. Could we be getting somewhere?
Is there any way of finding out the nature of the original Custard House: was it a private residence, a workhouse, a hospice, a hospital? Could it be possible that Alfred Bird, Snr - who we know founded a custard-producing factory in Gibb Street, Digbeth - attended St. John's Church, Deritend (thanks again, Mike!), befriended Rev. Williams Collins and donated a figure sufficiently large to enable the construction of a charitable establishment and his generosity rewarded by its being given the name "Custard House"?? Even today wealthy entrepreneurs give vast sums to charity. In those days might it have been a form of "advertising"? Custard House …. custard ….. Bird’s Custard ????
Lloyd, so it was the head of terryb18's Bird family that set the record time for pedalling from Land's End to John O'Groats on a tricycle that is unbroken to this day. Ironically, after such a long, successful tricycle ride, he died on 7th February 1922, aged 72, shortly after being run over by a car in Piccadilly, London.I had picked up somewhere along the line that Alfred Bird, Snr had had only two sons, so was a little taken aback when Terry listed five male offspring. But the more information we have, the better …… so thanks again Terry.
John, the map is fantastic !! It’s pre-railway although of course in 1821 the Grand Union Canal is there. Very interesting the fact that The Swan was then the New Inn, Yardley Old Church (St Edburgh’s) is there but not named, and the only building in Blake Lane is on the very site of our old house !! Seeing this map means I won’t be in bed before three o’clock tomorrow morning! Thank you, John, it’s amazing. David
 
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David it covers an area from Cannock in the north to Redditch in the south, and from Kidderminster in the west to Maxstoke in the east.
Any area you want me to scan for you ?.
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

John, you’re a first-class, spontaneous, genuine Brummie MATE, mate! Thank you. I’ll remember this kind offer and may well take you up on it shortly. Thank you.
Any news of Mr Wilson (I can’t bring myself to call him Ron - he was my girlfriend’s dad!)? David
 
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I live close to Blake Lane and was told that the pub was originally the costard house ,belonging to an orchard which grew apples of this variety,way back.
 
I'm sure your right. Just cant remember where I read it !

Theres some truth in there somewhere, but I didnt know there was a house as well as the pub.
 
Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Well that’s very interesting, mah, and it somewhat fits in with fatfingers’ theory (Post #6) in which he writes there “used to be a custard (costard) apple orchard on the site”, and with the fact that I myself can definitely recall three, four or five apple trees in the pub’s garden.
However I would still tend to think that the pub took its name from the original Custard House, which was no more than 150 yards away on the corner between Yardley Green Road and Hobmoor Road. I imagine the orchard was there. I think it’s far more likely that a tavern (please see maps in Posts #8 and #25) takes its name from a well-known local house – which may have just been demolished - than the contrary. I maintain it must have been very well known because it’s on an 1821 map together with Blakesley Hall and the Swan, Yardley’s “predecessor”, the New Inn.
I rest my case.
Thanks to one and all for all these enlightening contributions.
But are we anywhere near the truth? David
 
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Re: The Custard House Blake Lane

Could be talking out my rear end - I do that a lot - but I Think Custard apples only grow in hotter climates. 'Costard apples' , or 'Martins Custard apples' now more or less extinct; grew here and were used to make Cider, not custard. I'm sure someone on here will knowif I;m right !

Wonder if theres a clue there.
 
Hi all i lived in fifth avenue bordesley green and i remember this story about the custard house. the land on the corner of hobmoor and yardley green lane was a part of the custard house farms. found all over east birmingham including nechells/saltly/ etc. see link below.


CUSTARD HOUSE FARM, GREEN LANES.
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

db84124 said:
I'm very sorry, fatfingers, but I beg to differ on your theory of the orchard.
Attached is a map of the Blake Lane area of Bordesley Green of 1890. One can see that the Custard House - which is halfway down, or up, Blake Lane on the eastern side - was then called the Custard House Tavern.
If you now look at the corner of Green Lane, Blake Lane, Hobmoor Road and Yardley Green Road, on the corner between the last two named roads, you will see a building which was called Custard House. I very much imaging that the tavern - and consequently the pub - took its name from the original Custard House.
Has anyone got any information on the 1890 building?
Might it be just possible that the name is a corruption due to local pronunciation of Customs House? Only a theory. I can't for the life of me imagine why a customs house would be out in the wilds of what was then Warwickshire. db84124
Click to expand...

Shame about the quality, but I wonder if thats it in the background.
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Colin and col h, and all the members who have contributed to this enthralling thread,
We seem to be making far more progress than previous threads about the Custard House pub have ever made.
This is thanks to the extraordinary participation of all. Can we break it this time? I have a feeling that we are very, very close to the solution - perhaps a final concerted effort by everyone will see us into the light. Please, please don't give up now; keep up the excellent work courageously and defiantly ……. let’s not be cowardy, cowardy custards !!?! David
 
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fatfingers said:
I'm sure your right. Just cant remember where I read it !

Theres some truth in there somewhere, but I didnt know there was a house as well as the pub.
Click to expand...

Gave this some thought over the weekend, I think it was probably a book called Small Heath and Sparkbrook, on the cover was a picture of the choir from St Andrews Senior school.

I no longer have the book, but if it rings any bells with anybody, could you have a look, and see what it says re the custard house or blake lane ?
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

The following is an enlargement of the 1890 map showing the junction of Green Lane, Blake Lane, Yardley Green Road and Hobmoor Road. The old Custard House appears to be on the corner between the last two mentioned roads thanks to the label “Custard House”. But if the building was so important as to be included both on the 1890 map and the one published in 1821, wouldn’t the “lord-of-the-manor’s” house be more imposing? Could the real Custard House be the enormous building with the words “lawn” and “house” alongside it? If one looks carefully, one can see that this “house” is surrounded by treed land. The symbols appear to be different; cartographers normally use an identical symbol when they wish to represent fruit trees. Do you think the big house is encircled by apple trees or is it deciduous parkland?
Is there any way of discovering who lived there during the period 1850 to 1900?
mikejee tells us in Post #19 that in 1883-4 a Reverend Collins was living in the first house in Hobmoor Road. In 1888, the reverend was to be found living in the first house in Yardley Road (now Yardley Green Road) called The Laurels, and as the house was in the corner between these two roads, Mike – quite rightly in my opinion – assumes the vicar lived in the same house but his address had been change. If, in 1880, The Laurels is not listed in the Birmingham directory, could it appear on another list: Warwickshire for example? Is there a directory for Yardley?
Could one of the photographic experts on the Forum clarify the photo or could a member send in a more detailed copy?
Keep right on ………….. oops !!?! David


Custard House.jpg
 
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Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

If it helps. The border between Yardley and Bordesly was Blake Lane, at least till Yardley was incorporated into Bimingham in 1911.

The pic is from'Small Heath Remembered' by Bob Marsden. I bought it as a discarded library book. Most of the photos in it are pretty poor and look like photo copies, but not as bad as it looks on here. I'll scan it again in a different format tomorrow and see if it improves.

Looks A LOT better if you open the attachment in 'todays posts' rather than clicking on the image. its the one with the file name WWW jpeg.
 
Re: The Custard House, Blake Lane

Colin, your map in Post #42 is excellent. Could you possibly produce a second, equally clear rectangle which extends to the east beyond the end of Blakeland Street and corresponds with the map I posted in Post #40, i.e. which includes the whole of the "garden" of the big house, that I believe to be the real, original Custard House?
Would you please confirm that the map was published in 1890? Thank you, David

Custard_House.jpg
 
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Someone has sent me these ,still no real answer though.

Looks like its been a mystery for yonks. Sorry theyre in the wrong order, couldnt work out how to re arrange em.
 
Have put them together in the right order
Mike

custard_house_historyC.jpg
 
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